


Another Lizard Problem

by Rioghna



Series: Daddy's Little Girl !verse [4]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Humor, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-07-14
Packaged: 2018-07-23 21:47:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7481238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rioghna/pseuds/Rioghna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumplestiltskin has a little problem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Another Lizard Problem

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tinuviel_Undomiel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tinuviel_Undomiel/gifts).



Rumplestiltskin cursed quietly. He had been feeling a bit out of sorts for the last few days, headachy, not sleeping and with a sort of vague level of discomfort that couldn't really be pinned down to anything. He wasn't sick, of that he was sure, it was almost impossible for that to happen. So his solution had been to hide in his tower, trying to avoid taking his mood out on his family.

The weather had been oppressively hot and humid, a relatively odd condition for so high in the mountains, but it did happen every decade or so. The castle fared well, the thick stone walls held the cool and kept the heat out. But a walk, even into the garden, was like walking through treacle, and going down to the village was an exercise in discomfort, even in the carriage. It didn't much bother the sorcerer personally, not usually, but it meant Belle had been keeping their young daughter inside the castle. Rose didn't like staying inside and was making certain that everyone was aware.

Meanwhile, Bae, who almost always loved to spend time with his little sister, was also feeling the temperature. It had been too hot for riding, or hunting in the forest with Graham, the former huntsman who was acting as the sorcerer's gamekeeper. Instead, he'd retreated to his own rooms with a pile of books, several rolls of parchment, and an entire box of charcoal sticks, emerging only for food and the odd evening swim in the lake.

Even Belle, who had continued trying to keep her usual schedule, was having difficulty. The heat prevented her from spending much time in her garden, which didn't improve her temper either. The truth was, Belle disliked keeping to the house as much as her daughter did. All of this, the unsteady temperament of the house, his own unexpectedly short temper (even for him) and the last few deals he had been called on, which had been less than satisfactory, had kept him in his tower laboratory in a way he'd not been since his marriage, and now he seemed to have developed a clumsy streak as well.

"Rumple, is everything all right?" He jumped at the sound of his wife's voice as she came into the room carrying a tea tray.

"Of course it's not," he snapped before he even thought about it. It had been a long time since he had snapped at her like that. She just looked at him. "I'm sorry, love," he said, reaching out for her. "What are you doing up here, braving the beast, ehhh? I could have come down for tea."

"You should," she agreed. "But you haven't in two days, and I've woken up alone. I wanted to see what was wrong." She dragged him to the settee in the corner than he had put there specifically so that Belle could join him for tea when he was working on something long and drawn out.

"Where is Rose?" he asked. It wasn't often that they had tea without one or both of the children anymore, though Bae was hardly a child, hadn't been when he went through the portal. Soon enough the lad would be wanting to discuss what he wanted to do. Not that he needed to do anything but, as he'd reminded his father, that wasn't how he'd been raised. They had tabled the discussion though for a time so they could get themselves sorted. Rumplestiltskin shook himself from his thoughts as Belle distracted him.

"Rose is fine. I asked Carina to bring the girls up with Dove when he next went to the village. They are occupied and I have a bit of time to see why my husband is hiding up here. You haven't done this since you got Bae back, not without something important going on. Now..." she asked, handing him his tea and sitting back, waiting.

"It's nothing, love," he said, leaning back in the seat and trying to find words for the unsettled feeling.

"Rumple, what are you doing?" she asked. The sorcerer followed her eyes down to where he had been scratching absently at his arm. He looked closely, noticing the thin shreds of skin. "Damn," he said. Well, at least it finally made sense, everything did, including his bad temper. "Well that's a surprise," he told her. "But, it has been a while." Now that he acknowledged it, it was more apparent than ever, or maybe it was that he'd started the scratching, his body giving up. Now everything started to itch and he was more glad than ever that he'd been hiding his temper away. "Nothing you can do, my dear," he said. "I'll just..."

"Not entirely true," Belle said with a smile that said she had thought of something. Belle had a plan.

"What..." Rumplestiltskin started to ask.

"You just get that potion of yours and go down. I'll draw the bath for you and meet you there when I've got a few things done," she told him. Knowing he'd get nowhere, and with the scratching only making things worse, he didn't have a lot of leeway. He gave her a kiss before going to look through his supplies. He'd been using a lot more of his potion than usual, what with Rose, but for her he had to dilute it. He found a bottle, spared a moments thought to just what his wife was up to, and went down to their room and into the bath chamber he had created when he moved into the castle.

Rumplestiltskin sighed contentedly at the room, as he usually did. He'd been poor and knew well what it was to have no option to bathe but a basin, a bucket, or the river. When he had the power, he'd determined that he'd never be in that position again.

Belle had filled the tub already and Rumple poured the potion into the water and stripped off, grimacing as strips and bits of skin came away with his leather trousers. Ugh. Free of his clothes, he slid into the water. It was hot and the potion added an herbal scene to the steam. Almost immediately the itch started to fade. This is good, he thought as he leaned back to enjoy. Rumple ducked his head under the water several times so that he could get started. The face was always tricky, and he sneezed several times before settling back down.

"Papa, papa..." He heard Rose and opened one eye. Belle was standing next to the tub with a firm hand on the back of their daughter's dress.

"Rosie no," Belle said firmly.

"Belle, what..."

"Papa got the itches, needs special baff," the little girl repeated.

"Rose is going to stay with Carina tonight. There is blackberry picking tomorrow for all the children, and Dove will bring her back. Now, kiss your papa so you can go." The little girl leaned down and carefully kissed her father's cheek.

"Bad itches, feel good soon," the little girl told her father solemnly, as her mother ushered her out.

"Belle, are you sure," he asked when she returned. They both had a tendency to be overprotective of their daughter.

"Here, give yourself a good scrub," she said, dropping a coarse cloth into the tub with him before turning and unlacing her dress.

"What are you doing, dearie?" he asked, watching her.

"What I'm _not_ doing is getting in there with you. I know what you said about Rose's bath and I'm sure yours is stronger. Now, before you make a fuss, Rose will be fine with Carina's family for the night, and we have to allow it sometime. Bae's asked to go night fishing with Graham, and you are I are now going to spend the evening together repairing your frame of mind."

"Are you certain? I can be a very cranky beast," he teased a little. He was starting to feel a little bit more himself, well, his new self.

"Ah, but I have my own ways of soothing a cranky beast," Belle told him.

"That you do," he said. "Keep me company?"

 

When Rumple finally emerged from the water, he no longer felt tight and itchy. Instead he was drowsy and his skin was very sensitive. Belle was waiting for him to step out, still in her shift with a large towel. She wrapped him up and gave him a brisk drying that was just this side of painful, making sure all the remains were off. Then she led him, docile as a lamb into the bedroom. She had covered the sheets with some thick cloth. "Down you go," she urged. He started to say something but the the bath, and the stress of the last couple of days left him suddenly tired. Rumplestiltskin was very close to dozing off when he felt her soft hands on his shoulders. She had gotten the oil he'd made for Rose and was rubbing it into his neck, soothing the oversensitive skin. He moaned softly as she moved down his arms and then worked her way back up, before starting on the rest of his back. Rumplestiltskin reflected that this was definitely an improvement. If he got this treatment every time, he could get used to it.

By the time she got him to roll over, he was stuck in a strange half doze. Part of him wanted to grab Belle and pull her down to him, but his body was kitten weak and movement was more than he could manage, no surprise when the oil had been made to soothe his daughter and put her to sleep afterward. "Belle," he whispered as she finished rubbing him down and lay herself next to him.

"Shhhh, sleep, love, we have time." She always knew his mind. He pulled his wife close to him and fell to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I wrote this for Tinuviel_Undomiel, as a little something to soothe sunburn recovery. Hope you like it, hon. Please to leave a comment in the little box.


End file.
